Execution Report: James Jackson

James Jackson
Executed on 7 February 2007

James Lewis Jackson, 47, was executed by lethal injection on 7
February 2007 in Huntsville, Texas for the murders of his wife and two
stepdaughters.

James and Sharon Jackson married in 1995. Sharon had two teenaged
daughters - Sonceria, who was called "Sonny," and Ericka. James
Jackson's heavy drug use and inability to hold a job produced problems
in the marriage. On 8 April 1997, when Ericka, 18, came home from high
school, Jackson, then 37, asked how she felt about her mother's plans
to divorce him. After Ericka expressed ambivalence, Jackson strangled
her with his hands. About thirty minutes later, Sonny, 19, came home
from college. Jackson asked her the same question. Unaware that
Jackson had just killed her sister, Sonny answered that she loved him
and wanted to remain in his life. As she attempted to hug him, he
strangled her. Jackson then put the two women in their beds. Later,
Sharon, 39, called and asked for a ride home from work. Jackson picked
her up and brought her back to the apartment. He told Sharon that the
girls were sleeping. After Sharon rejected his attempts to reconcile
their problems, he strangled her.

Before leaving the apartment, Jackson left behind a note reading, "I
love Sharon, Sonny, Ericka. I could not take care of my family. I
don't have a job. I gave them back to God. He and they will
understand. James."

The following morning, Sharon's sister, Sabrina Farley, received a
call from one of Sharon's co-workers, who was expecting Sharon to pick
her up for work. Farley and her mother, Ethel, went to the Jacksons'
apartment and found the three dead women. Sheriff's deputies were
called out to the apartment in northern Harris county. They found
Jackson's note and also observed that Ericka was nude from the waist
down. While deputies were investigating the scene, James Jackson drove
up. He was taken to the sheriff's office, where he confessed to the
murders, giving the account related above.

At his trial, prosecutors presented evidence that following the
murders, Jackson pawned his wife's sewing machine and used the money
to buy drugs.

Jackson had a previous felony conviction in 1989 for shooting his
children's grandfather. He was sentenced to ten years in prison. He
served 4½ years before being paroled in 1994. He was still on parole
at the time of the killings.